Solitude
by Dilapidated Roads
Summary: This is what happens when the Dovahkiin is left to his own devices. Netheron isn't comfortable around people, so he waits until all have left and he goes to do his business.


Atop a large, white summit sat a small Bosmer, clad in heavy furs. His dark brown eyes surveyed the land below him as he inhaled the bitterly cold air. Snow twirled all around him, the air blowing his hair around his head like a strange, copper halo. Clouds were gathering in the distance, disturbing the man's day. Earlier it had been sunny, then the light grey clouds signaled that snow was coming. Now there were rain clouds, perhaps carrying the thunder with them.

The man stood up to his full height, knowing that what he was planning to do would ruin the snow. He breathed in, "LOK!" _Sky._ "VAH!" _Spring._ Finally, with all his might, he loudly yelled out the final word. "KOOR!" _Summer._

The final word of the shout was a large sonic boom in the air. Many of the villagers below looked up in alarm at the mountain, then in wonder at the clearing skies. The man who yelled into the sky sat back down on his mountain perch and closed his eyes. He breathed in, the still cold air burned his lungs, and slowly breathed out, exhaling smoke from his nostrils.

When next the man opened his eyes, furs and food surrounded him. It was dark, but the moon was full and bright allowing him to see the gifts around him. They were from the villagers who were currently being pelted with snow day after day.

The man realized that he must have fallen asleep while meditating, and he was quite cold. Reaching for the large bear pelt to his left, a stack of letters tied up in twine caught his attention. He grabbed the stack and untied the twine. The first letter was by a little girl. He could tell be the elegant, large letters.

_'Dear Man on the Mountain,_

_ Thank you for getting rid of the snow. I don't know how you do it, but you saved my little brother's life. The cold was killing him and you saved him. Ma' says that you're the village guardian, but Pa' says that you're just a traveller. Are you really an elf mister? The village elder said that elves only do things for reward, but I saw you sitting on the mountain since this morning. I tried to tell them you were only enjoying the sun and decided to help._

_ Thank you,_

_ Yggdrasil'_

Netheron, for that was the man's name, smiled when he read the letter. He was enjoying the sun, soaking up the rays that were so rare in this place. He did know that these people were pelted by the cold, but he didn't know about the pain that the villagers faced. Netheron opened the second letter. This one was written by a man, older, more versed in language than most. The village elder.

_'Dear Visitor,_

_ You have my thanks for ridding us of the snow that had plagued us for so long. Please accept these gifts for compensation. Please keep in mind that the villagers will lead better lives for a while, although the snow will come back._

_ My thanks,_

_ Elder Bjorn'_

Netheron sneered a little at the letter. A passive aggressive way of thanking him but telling him to leave. A passive aggressive way of telling him that these gifts were possibly going to hurt the villagers in the distant future.

Netheron read all of the letters, smiling at some, sneering at others, and even still sometimes saving some. He saved the one from the little girl first. He didn't know why, but it touched his heart. Maybe it was because the little girl tried to defend him in a small way, maybe it was the way that she didn't care if he was an elf.

Netheron grabbed a large stack of blank parchment out of his pack, an eagle feather quill, and a bottle of green ink that Faendal made for him. He looked through all the names, and shakily wrote in the strange symbols of the common tongue.

_'Yggdrasil,_

_ I hope this helps your family. I've had them for a while and you need them more than I do._

_ Netheron (The Man on the Mountain)'_

Netheron folded the letter up and continued with the rest of the replies. Each was short and almost sloppy due to his inexperience in writing in the common tongue. This frustrated him, but he didn't want to waste the parchment or the ink.

The moon was in the middle of the sky, showing that the night was half over when Netheron was finished writing the letters to the villagers. He decided he would have to make multiple trips to the village square and drop off the pelts, food, and weapons before he could deliver them to the individuals.

The moon was lower in the sky by the time that Netheron made his last trip. Netheron placed his hands together and spoke the words for the spell he had planned. His eyes glowed a faint blue hue before he saw the trails of blue leading him to each individual home. For three hours, he divided and sent goods to each home, except the Village Elder, who he would visit last.

The goods were in his hands and he was about to deliver the gift to the elder when the door next to his opened. It was the little girl, Yggdrasil. She saw the gift of food and fur and looked around. Netheron clasped his hands together again and whispered the words for a strong invisibility spell. He walked out into the open but the girl could not see him. She had pale, white skin and light blonde hair. Her hair was elegant, tied up in two braids with blue ribbon that matched her eyes.

Yggdrasil picked up the letter and her eyes widened. She looked up at the mountain before running inside to her parents. Netheron took the opportunity to place his final gifts on the Elder's door. Suddenly a light started to appear out of the little girl's house. Netheron quickly climbed the building and sat on the roof, watching the little girl and her mother look around their house for the mysterious stranger.

"Ma' he has to be close!" The little girl exclaimed looking at the gift left on the Elder's door step.

"Yggdrasil, he's probably gone back to the mountain," The woman said, her thick Nordic accent coming closer and closer to Netheron's position.

"No, Ma'! There wasn't anything on the Elder's door before!"

"How about that?"

The woman and the little girl gathered the gifts that Netheron left them and went inside. Netheron allowed himself to smile a little before breathing in deeply, the cold air still biting at his insides. Cold breaths in, warm breaths out, Netheron allowed himself to enter a calm state of mind. Cold breaths in, warm breaths out. Cold breaths in, warm breaths out. Cold breaths...

Netheron woke up to voices talking directly below him. He was mildly disoriented, the same as every time that he wakes up. He opens his eyes and looks around at the faces looking up at him. Men, women, and children all looking up at him in awe. Netheron stands up on the roof and looks down on all of the people. Netheron goes to the back of the roof, and running at top speeds, jumps over the people and lands on his feet. The people scream in shock as he runs straight at a tree.

Right before Netheron rams himself into a tree, he disappears from sight, straight into the woods.


End file.
